My Thoughts About 2014 as Christmas Arrives

Berlin, Germany—I can only wish I were writing this in beautiful City of Berlin.  The German people have not diminished or even denounced this great holiday as too many American’s have.  Instead I’m in Los Angeles at the moment.  

As many of you know I’ve become thrilled and addicted to using a camera drone to acquire amazing video.  I even earned an IMDB screen credit as aerial photographer for the Pablo Lewin short film production, The Roommate.

The word “drone” became a dirty term because of those infamous military weapon-laden killing machines.  The multi-rotor camera drone users like me have now clamed that term and redefined it as a tool for art and many exciting humanitarian purposes.

I hope to see the FAA end their ban on commercial use of drones to grow our stagnant economy and create new jobs.

We saw a racial divide like we’ve not had in this nation since the 1950’s.  I blame almost all of it all on high profile race baiting by Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson.

The fact is African-Americans murder each other as a form of genocide.  African-Americans accept this without batting an eye.  African-Americans murder whites in savage, cruel and hateful ways and nobody but the victims and their families care. 

When a non-African-American kills a Black even in self-defense everyone goes absolutely crazy.  Killing justified or not is an ugly subject we are far better off without predatory behavior in our world. We must respect the gift of fear and our instinct for survival.   

In the last several months thousands of protesters deliberately provoked cops every way they could.  The fact that none of the demonstrators lost their lives is a monument to restraint.

Politicians need to stop using cops for revenue enhancement and return them to protecting and serving citizens.  Cops are feared because of excessive traffic fines that can devastate working families and that’s wrong.

The race baiting, provocation and hate must end.   If Americans would simply learn to smile and be kind to one another it would be a wonderful world.  We all need love, understanding and help from each other.  Hate serves no one.

We are on this earth for a very short time.  We can use all of our creator’s gifts and talent for productivity, art, music and science or simply waste them.  We only get one chance and there is really no such thing as equal opportunity.  We all have to do the best with what we have.

I’m going to spend the next year being especially kind to strangers.  I’m going to encourage my artist, musician and other hard-working friends to succeed more than ever.  I hope the few good things I do become contagious. 

To my friends, acquaintances, blog visitors, I wish the best holidays ever and a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. 

Putting a Drone Under Your Child’s Christmas Tree

Phoenix, AZ—Okay, I have to confess that my two camera drones have brought out the child in me!  I put one under my own tree last Christmas.  I’m middle-aged but have become hopelessly hooked on these incredible things.  I now own a DJI Phantom 2 and a Blade 350QX quad-copters that use those great GoPro cameras. 

For some unknown reason these multi-rotor camera drones have not caught the affection of women like they have men.  I don’t understand this since women are generally more creative then men.  I hope this changes because they have no clue what they’re missing.

The popularity of the multi-rotor drones is exploding especially with photographers.  They allow limitless perspectives of the subject mater sought to make or capture breathtaking images. 

They have starter drones on the substantially less-expensive end such as the Blade 200-QX that can help your child master the very important skills in controlling, operating and understanding this somewhat new technology. 

To be a successful camera drone owner & operator there are four things that must be part of your learning curve. 

First is learning the science and piloting of the device itself.  Next is the understanding of cameras and video photography.  After that, learning how to edit the video so that it is watchable becomes very important.  Last but not least is story telling or writing ability, which is no small part of this process. 

The best way to describe this is to compare this process to making a TV news story or a blockbuster movie.  If you’re not motivated, creative and competitive don’t bother with camera drones.

There’s really no fun in using the camera drones if you can’t share your films with your friends and the world.  Nobody will want to watch your videos unless they have that special sizzle. 

Drone photography has opened a new world that often can’t even be captured safely with conventional helicopters or fixed wing aircraft.  

The safety record of the camera drones is still unblemished but for a few careless owner/operators that have put their hand or fingers into the moving propellers.  For these people putting Band-Aids in their flight box may be a good idea. 

Crashes into trees, buildings or other fixed objects are inevitable but most of the time the drone survives with little or no damage.  A broken propeller or two are easily replaced.  

A pretty nice consumer drone with camera will cost between $1,200 and $3,000 but is worth every penny. 

The lucrative camera drone manufacturing industry is becoming fiercely competitive meaning the quality improves as the prices are dropping. 

An accomplished camera/drone operator can expect to see real career possibilities in many areas of business.  Filmmaking, TV news, Surveying and Mapping businesses will all need drone/camera operators.

Back to the idea of giving one of these gee wiz gizmos to you kid.  A starter drone may be the best idea.  If your child is really motivated, responsible and capable of handing the learning curve the real deal camera drone might just become the gift of a lifetime.  

Anyone getting a drone should learn to fly with an already accomplished drone operator.  Trying to learn alone is a terrible idea.  There are RC or remote control flying fields everywhere and there are folks there, flying that are only too willing to teach you some basics. 

Camera drone schools are also beginning to surface and that’s yet another professional opportunity. 

The drones are here to stay simply because they are both needed and wanted.  Now I want Santa Claus to put an advanced professional drone under my own tree this year!
My Number One Drone:

 Sunset and PCH L.A. video

Westlake Villiage, CA: